WORKFORCE
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What is your educational background?
I graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast journalism
program earlier this year. As an older student, I’d spent a few years
working in several other industries before I returned to studies in 2009.
Why did you choose this path of study?
I was inspired to follow the journalism path after spending several years
working as a music journalist for street press magazines. What started
as a supplementary role to working more broadly within the music
industry soon turned into a passion. I was also drawn to it through a
love of the written word. Growing up, many of my favourite authors
were working journalists or had worked as journalists.
Why is journalism important to you?
Scrutiny on issues that affect the public is fundamental to a
functioning democracy. More people need to financially support
the craft by paying the small fees for online subscriptions.
Quality journalism costs money. People are often critical of the
mass media but these organisations are often the only outlets
to break sometimes difficult stories of public interest.
Write so
they’ll know
Tom Snowdon recently graduated from USC’s
journalism course and completed a grad program
with News Corp. He explains his interest in journalism
and why he now understands singer Anthony Kiedis.
Interview by Patrick Avenell
T
In the short term, it’s hard to envisage more academic studies,
because this work can be entirely consuming. But I would like to
think there is room for a return to academia in the future.
What book are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading Mafia Cop by Lou Eppolito and Bob Drury, about a
couple of dirty New York detectives who paid for their crimes
with jail time. Kate Kyriacou’s acclaimed book The Sting, about the
police operation to catch Daniel Morcombe’s killer, has been sitting
on my bookshelf waiting to be read after I finish Mafia Cop.
What are your three favourite films?
I’d have to rate the Aussie film Two Hands right up there. The
Godfather is an undeniable classic. There are so many other
favourites, it’s hard to choose a third one, so I’m going to choose a
television show instead: Frontline.
What was your first concert? And what was your most recent?
his is Campus Review’s Profile series, in which we visit with
an academic or researcher to learn more about them and
their work.
CR: Where are you based and what do you do?
TS: I’m a journalist for The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, based out
of the Bowen Hills office in Brisbane. I started at the company in
2014 through a program that employs university graduates, rotating
them through different rounds so they can get experience across
different roles. It was one of the best hand-ups I’ve had in the industry.
Through the experience gained from working alongside some of the
top journalists in Queensland, I was able to secure myself a fulltime
role at the company before the end of the year.
Following the graduate program, I worked across news rounds
in The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, with a focus on crime and
court-related cases.
This year, I’ve moved into my own round, covering local
government issues across Queensland.
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Do you foresee any further academic studies? If so, what areas are
you thinking about?
My first concert was the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the
Entertainment Centre in 1996. I’d just busted my knee whacking
it on a goal post during a game of rugby. I remember lead singer
Anthony Kiedis had a real bee in his bonnet about doing an encore.
I thought he acted like a real d*** about it, considering how much
money he would have been getting paid. It was only later, as I grew
older, that I started to realise what a troubled man he would have
been. My most recent concert was watching Violent Soho play a
warm-up gig in front of a few hundred people at Max Watts in West
End, before they played to thousands at Splendour in the Grass.
What’s your ultimate Sunday Funday activity?
Surfing in the morning. Maybe a picnic or a walk later in the day? ■
If you would like to nominate an academic or researcher – even
yourself (No one will ever know!) – to be profiled and have their
work featured, please email news editor Patrick Avenell:
[email protected]